Holiday Tournament Roundup: Eagles outlast Panthers in overtime, reach semifinals in Macomb

MACOMB, Ill. — An ankle injury put Logan Robbins on the sideline for the final 90 seconds of overtime Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 75th Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament.

By that point, though, he had left his mark.

Robbins’ dunk with two minutes remaining gave the Liberty boys basketball team a two-point lead over Camp Point Central at Western Hall. And despite allowing the Panthers to hold for the final shot, the Eagles didn’t allow a quality look at the buzzer and survived with a 44-42 victory.

Liberty (11-1) will face Farmington (10-2) at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals. The winner advances to the tournament championship game at 9:30 p.m.

The Eagles had a chance to win it in regulation, inbounding the ball from under their own basket with 2.2 seconds remaining. Robbins collected the inbounds pass, but it was poked away by the Panthers’ Isaac Genenbacher as Robbins spun to the basket from the left block.

In overtime, Breiton Klingele’s assist set up Robbins’ dunk for the only points of the extra frame.

Central missed two shots in the paint with a minute to go, but Liberty’s Jackson Tenhouse missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 32 seconds remaining to give the Panthers one more shot. Central coach James Barnett used three timeouts — calling them with 25.8 seconds, 9.9 seconds and 4.2 seconds remaining — to orchestrate the final shot.

Keaton Dickhut attempted a 3-pointer from the right wing off the final inbounds pass, but the shot was long and Tenhouse grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.

Robbins led the Eagles with 17 points and three blocked shots. Nick Moore went 4 of 7 from 3-point range and led the Panthers with 14 points.

In another quarterfinal, Macomb closed the first half on a 7-0 run and opened the second half on a 9-2 spurt to take control and cruise to a 44-20 victory against Pittsfield. Nate Scranton led the Saukees with 10 points, but Pittsfield attempted just 22 shots and committed 17 turnovers.

In the consolation bracket, Brown County’s Tate Fullerton went 18 of 22 from the free-throw line and posted a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Hornets beat Illini West 53-46. Cole Behymer added 13 points for Brown County (8-3).

The Chargers went 4 of 18 from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers against just six assists. Nolan Deitrich led Illini West with 13 points, while Bradyn Robertson had 10 points and seven rebounds.

West Hancock suffered a 41-39 loss to Abingdon-Avon as the Titans scored just two points in the fourth quarter. Colin LeMaire led the Titans with nine points.